Chapter 12: Where There's Smoke
Ginny woke at dawn. It was a beautiful Thursday morning, and Ginny had the day off from work. She had gotten into the habit of getting up early, and she decided to clean her desk in order to take full advantage of her early rising. She quickly made her bed, then put everything on the surface of her tiny desk onto her bed. Ginny sorted her things out, making a few different piles of stuff. Letters, parchment, books, photographs, and a few old Daily Prophets. The Prophets she put in the trash, the books she stacked on the floor next to her bookshelf for later, the photographs she put into the drawer in her bedside table, and she sat at her desk to take a better look at the letters.
Dear Ginny,
Things are as busy as ever here at Hogwarts. Hagrid finally convinced Professor Sprout that he can handle her plants while she goes away for a week to a meeting of leading Herbology experts. Personally, I give the Venomous Tentactula a week before it kills every other plant in the greenhouse.
Love, Gaby
Ginny smiled. She wondered if she should be worried for Hagrid's well-being once Professor Sprout got back to find her plants in dire straights, but dismissed it. Someone would give Hagrid a hand. She picked up the next envelope, and her heart sank. The envelope was pearly-white, and her name was written on it in golden ink.
You are cordially invited to the wedding of
Lavender Carolyn Brown
John Alexander Fletcher
September 31
Ginny groaned. She'd RSVP'd a few weeks ago, and now she actually had to go. Ginny hadn't liked weddings much since Bill and Fleur's had ended in such disaster. All of the other letters were old, mostly accounts of crazy adventures from Luna or notes from Hermione. Ginny thought she had other letters, but she dismissed the thought. Yawning, Ginny quickly penned a note to Ashley suggesting a dress-shopping expedition. She needed something new for the wedding. Leaving it on her desk to be sent later, Ginny walked down the stairs quietly, and got to the kitchen without waking anyone. She made some coffee, and then some french toast for breakfast. When Pigwidgeon arrived with the mail and the Prophet, Ginny quickly turned to the sports page to see if there was any coverage of yesterday's game, and she gasped, almost spilling her coffee. The headline of the sports section read:
Ballycastle Bats Bag Bribes
by Gettoph Mai Brum
The celebrated Ballycastle Bats start off what looked to be a promising season with a promise of galleons. The Bats played the Harpies yesterday at the Harpies' stadium, and they beat the Bats one hundred and eighty points to zero. "I knew that there was something wrong." Confessed the Bats' coach, Terry Melman. "I never imagined that my players would accept money to throw a game. To me, that was not even a possibility." The scandal was uncovered when an anonymous tip was sent to quidditch officials. The team's spokesperson said that a statement will be released regarding the ongoing investigation of the team. Coach Gwenog Jones of the Hollyhead Harpies declined to comment. (Cont. on page 9A)
Ginny gasped. She hurriedly turned to the next page and read the remainder of the article. She couldn't believe it. Her very first match had been fixed.
"So what did the coach say?" Asked Ashley as she gently lifted a blue silk gown off of a hanger.
"Not much. She was really surprised." Ginny said, slipping out of a pink frilly thing that she regretted even looking twice at. It looked ridiculous with her hair.
"Well, at least she has a lot of confidence in you guys, then." Ashley pointed out, holding the pale blue silk against her thin frame. "She thought you'd actually beat the Bats without them even managing to score."
"Yeah, I guess." Ginny shrugged, pulling her robes back on over her head.
The two girls were in a wizarding dress shop that was opened to cater to the needs of the wizard who wanted to look like a muggle. Lavender was having a wedding in wizarding style, but with muggle dress. This struck Ginny as a bit odd, but she thought she shouldn't judge, considering the oddness in her family.
"So, what kind of wedding is this?" Asked Ashley, returning the blue dress to the rack.
"Knowing Lavender, probably the wedding of the century. She's invited everyone she's ever made eye-contact with." Ginny said, as she emerged from behind the curtain where she'd been trying things on.
"I'm glad I'm not invited," Ashley laughed. "I might run into my ex-boyfriends. All of them!" Ashley paused for a second. "Wait, isn't your ex going?"
"Well of course!" Ginny laughed. "If Lavender can have Harry Potter at her wedding, then she will! It's in style now, to have the savior of all wizard-kind in attendance at special occasions. You would not believe how many bar-mitzvah invitations he's been getting!" Ashley didn't laugh.
"That's the one." She said simply. Ginny looked down at her hands. She'd absentmindedly pulled the perfect dress from the rack. It was dark blue velvet with a bodice embroidered with pearls. It had cap sleeves and a full skirt, and the fabric just reached her knees.
"It is." Ginny smiled. She pulled the curtain, slipped off her robes, and slid the dress on. It fit perfectly, it was like nothing Ginny had ever owned. She was the seventh child, and while, being a girl, she'd got a lot of her things second-hand rather than handed down, she'd never had many fine things. That hadn't changed much in the past two years, since her parents had been in debt from all of the years when they had next to nothing, and couldn't pay it all off, even with her dad's promotion.
"How much is it?" Asked Ashley as Ginny stepped out, admiring the way the dress fit her. Ginny fumbled for the tag, the little paper on a string under her arm. Glancing down at the piece of parchment, Ginny bit her lip.
"Eight galleons and seven sickles." She whispered.
"How much do you have?" Inquired Ashley.
"About fifteen galleons." Ginny said nervously. "But it's almost all of my wages from last week."
"If you want it, you should get it." Ashley told her. "You won't wear this dress just once."
Ginny thought for a moment. It was true, she would probably wear the dress a great deal, and she would get paid every week, and she didn't really have to worry about saving yet anyway, since she was still at her mum's for the time being.
"I'm getting it." She said resolutely.
